DENTON, TX-With six more development sites under contract, Regency Centers Corp. has closed on 20.3 acres to kick off this year's construction, a 109,048-sf showcase for Kroger's first large-format store in North Texas. Ground breaks in April.
West Miller, senior vice president of investments for the Jacksonville, FL-based Regency, tells GlobeSt.com that the site's purchase has sparked a land rush by other developers for a piece of the undeveloped intersection at Teasley Lane or FM 2181 and Hickory Creek. He says Regency has had the southeast corner under contract nearly one year as the team pushed to get Cincinnati-based Kroger Co.'s nod for a Marketplace anchor.
The grocer, like others in the industry, has launched an alternative format in the ongoing battle for market share with Bentonville, AR-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Kroger Marketplace is a mix of standard grocery fare and high-end lines of home furnishings and other general merchandise, including toys.
Miller says Hickory Creek Plaza will be anchored by an 81,264-sf Kroger Marketplace, getting enough extra dirt to add 20,000 sf onto the store. The project includes 27,784 sf of shop space, which is 30% preleased. Miller says the Regency team is keeping other tenants' names under wraps due to the competitive nature of the retail business. He did say talks are under way with two banks to ground lease two one-acre pad sites. "We anticipate we will be 90% leased by the time the center opens," he says. Shop space is being quoted at $25 per sf, triple net.
If the project stays on track and the weather cooperates, Hickory Creek Plaza will deliver in the fourth quarter or first quarter 2008. The all-in development cost is being kept under wraps, but comparable projects would cost more than $200 per sf to bring out of the ground.
Hickory Creek Plaza was designed by O'Brien & Associates Inc. of Dallas. Linda Tycher & Associates Inc., also from Dallas, is the landscape architect. The general contractor's selection is pending.
For Regency, Hickory Creek Plaza is the start of a two-year pipeline of grocery-anchored development in Dallas/Fort Worth. Miller says he's holding contracts for land in Frisco, Mesquite, North Fort Worth, Southlake, White Settlement and Wylie.
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